'Gardening is one of the things that I don’t really know what I’m doing but I love it and it feeds my soul,' shares actress Audra McDonald of her journey building a shade garden in her backyard. It certainly doesn't show; her garden is gorgeous.
An Instagram tour of Audra's patch is a masterclass in gardening with little light. It is filled with stone pieces, the best shade plants, and soil at the perfect level of moisture.
Despite the polished look of the garden shade idea, Audra created the shade garden with (self-admittedly) very little expert knowledge or investment. She explains: 'All this is stuff that was already in my garden in other places and we just transplanted it.'
Shop the look
Walk comfortably through your shade garden without muddying your shoes using these pretty stepping stones. The versatile design comes in a pack of four with stakes for easy installation.
This pack of 6 healthy bare-root starts is just what you need to kick off your shade gardening journey. The variety of hostas will create a stunning array that you love to see each day.
Nothing says Spanish Revival/ Mediterranean style like an oversized urn. This statement piece deserves a place among your shade plants, where it looks stunning in the summer light. It will offer the hint of European charm you've been waiting for.
According to experts, Audra's look created from the best plants for under trees is easy to recreate.
Thom Rutter, a master gardener and Content Editor at Homes & Gardens explains: 'Hostas and ferns are classic go-to shade plants. As you can see from Audra McDonald's border, these woodland plants not only look great, but will tolerate the challenging conditions well.'
The most important consideration is a focus on improving garden soil.
'Both ferns and hostas, while they grow well in part-shade or full-shade, prefer moist soil,' Thom says. 'They don't like sitting in waterlogged beds, but some moisture in the ground will generate the best results.'
What is the best way to do this? Thom recommends: 'I would suggest mulching your woodland beds after planting, which will help ferns and hostas to retain moisture during the summer, especially when conditions can be hot and dry (even in the shade!).'
Though gardening can feel like an insider club, with years of specialist knowledge necessary just to get started, this doesn't have to be the case. When you plant to the strengths of your outdoor space using the plants you already know grow well there, you can't go wrong.
